6.27.2014

I have finally gotten my neighborhood book club off the ground and we have chosen a book to read for July.

I am the host and chose The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green after reading about it on Wendy's blog

After reading the book, I have prepared a few questions to get us rolling when we meet on Tuesday and I thought I'd share. Can you think of any good discussion questions? Add them in the comments and I will bring them to my meeting!

I feel that as a mother, sometimes I approach this genre of book from a different perspective than a younger person, so I tried to gear the questions toward that line of thinking for my particular group.

I am also working on a small party favor to hand out to the girls at the meeting - an "okay" bracelet or bookmark, perhaps?

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The
Fault in Our Stars Book Club Discussion

John Green

1.Did you like the book or not / why?

2.What do you think about a 36 year old
man writing in the voice of a 16 yr old girl?

3.Did you read the book from the young
adult perspective as an adult voyeur?

4.Did you find the book sad &
depressing or uplifting, in a way?

5.Did you agree or disagree with some of
Hazel's/Gus’ parents parenting choices? Which ones – the clinginess or the
permissiveness? Do you think their choices were affected by her diagnosis? Could
you see yourself doing the same under similar circumstances?

6.Thoughts on Peter Van Houten?

7.Thoughts on Gus' cigarette?

8.Did you want to read An Imperial
Affliction after reading Hazel's description of it? (I actually Googled it to see if I could find it mid book!)

My Favorite
Quotes: (I have started noting favorite book quotes after seeing it on Tara's blog a while back)

*As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and
then all at once.

*Some people don't understand the promises they're making when they
make them," I said.

*"Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's
what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway.

*Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.

*Some tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth it is
a city of freedom. And in freedom, most people find sin.

*But I believe in true love, you know? I don't believe that everybody
gets to keep their eyes or not get sick or whatever, but everybody should have
true love, and it should last at least as long as your life does.

*"'Swing Set Needs Home,'" I said.

"'Desperately Lonely Swing Set Needs Loving Home,'" he
said.

"'Lonely, Vaguely Pedophilic Swing Set Seeks the Butts of
Children,'" I said.

*You have a choice in this world, I believe, about how to tell sad
stories, and we made the funny choice.

*(My) diagnosis came three months after I got my first period. Like:
Congratulations! You’re a woman. Now die.

*And I wondered if hurdlers ever thought, you know, 'This would go
faster if we just got rid of the hurdles.

*The weird thing about houses is that they almost always look like
nothing is happening inside of them, even though they contain most of our
lives.

6.12.2014

A 13 year old, 7th grade female student sent a naked photo (via text) to another 13 year old 7th grade male student.

The male student showed the photo (maybe even forwarded via text) to another male friend (possibly more than one friend) and someone told either a parent or a teacher.

The female student was suspended for one day.

The male student was suspended for several days. Rumor has it, the police got involved, and now he is required to register as a sex offender for a certain amount of time for receiving and sending child pornography.

*did you ever think you would read the words "sex offender" and "child pornography" on this blog??? Geesh!"

Is it possible that this child really had to register as a sex offender?

6.09.2014

About two years ago I leaped into the world of all things iPhone and with that came iTunes. The world of free podcasts was at my fingertips to help housecleaning, jogging, and driving pass in the blink of an eye! I started with all the usuals...

Then I started to discover some cool new shows I hadn't heard of before.

Snap Judgement ("Stories...with a beat") was mentioned on Pop Culture Happy Hour so I downloaded a few and loved the combination of short stories all glued together with music to punctuate each one.

Snap Judgement mentioned my newest obsession, Here Be Monsters ("The podcast about the unknown"). I binge listened (is that a thing??) to the first 20 or so episodes while spreading 12 yards of mulch last week. I really dig the trippy sound experiments and music that accompanies each strange story. They even dub in different voices when dialog occurs in a story. It is so weirdly fascinating to listen to and the host's voice is hypnotic to me...I might actually be in a trance right now...

Here and there, I sprinkle in some Joy the Baker for some girlfriend silliness, or Ask Me Another quiz shows for car rides with the family.

Do you listen to podcasts? Any suggestions for something I should try?

Fast forward a few weeks later as I was browsing the Target Dollar Aisle (more my budget), I spied this straw bag ($3) that resembled the Anthropologie bag and inspiration hit me! I found most of what I needed in that dollar aisle that day.

Picnic-for-Two Basket

Supplies:

Large straw bag

Plates

Wine glasses

Mason jars

Plastic utensils

Straws

Tablecloth

Napkins

+ any other "picnic-y" item you can think of!

Directions:

Pack it all up into the bag for a compact last minute picnic on the go!

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About Me

I'm a mom to three boys (ages 8-12), who's life revolves around laundry, football practice, blogging and art. Much of my daily interaction with said boys involves snacking, burping, discussions about "balls" or "peters", farting, or You Tube.
I have a small business and a group of friends (both real and bloggy) who provide me with the necessary estrogen to survive my testosterone-filled days. Got any estrogen to spare? Come on in!

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